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Night Shift Safety Issues

The night shift describes the evening or late night working schedule of a select group of workers. Night shifts are commonly found in the health care and manufacturing fields. Because night shift work disrupts the natural circadian rhythm, it causes workers to sleep less than necessary. The worker fatigue associated with night shift work poses numerous safety issues for both the workers and those with whom they interact.

  1. Increased Risk for Work Injuries

    • The most immediate safety threat caused by night shift work is the heightened probability for accidents in the workplace. According to a study published by the Liberty Mutual Research Institute, work-related injuries are 27.9 percent more likely during the night shift than during daytime work shifts. While this heightened risk is partially the result of reduced worker vigilance due to fatigue, the fact that night shift workers have less support and supervision than their daytime counterparts is also a factor. The National Institute for Working Life has shown that up to $350 billion is lost every year due to accidents and decreased productivity experienced by sleep-deprived workers.

    Reduced Cognitive Reasoning

    • In addition to a general reduction in alertness, night shift workers also experience a reduced capability to reason. This can pose a safety issue when workers work with dangerous machines or have to make decisions that require precision or quick thinking, as is the case with doctors. Lack of sleep not only dulls the reasoning skills of night workers, it also renders them less able to judge their own performance accurately; they may not even be aware they are making a mistake. For example, according to a study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2004, junior doctors who become exhausted while working the night shift are less able to make accurate diagnoses.

    Long-Term Safety Issues

    • The safety issues related to night shift work do not only involve the work setting itself. When night shift workers leave the workplace, their fatigue can continue to be a danger to themselves and those they encounter. Any task that requires concentration, such as driving, the care of young children and home repair, becomes a safety risk. Long after the work hours are finished, night shift workers continue to experience the negative effects of exhaustion, including decreased decision-making ability and shortened memory. They are more likely to act carelessly and may be slower to respond to an emergency. When extended over a long period, the exhaustion caused by night shift work can even cause gastrointestinal problems.

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